


Phantom Pain

by chesterfieldred



Category: Fallout (Video Games), Fallout 4
Genre: Canon-Typical Violence, Community: falloutkinkmeme, Disability, Disabled Character, Grief/Mourning, Kink Meme, M/M, Slow Burn
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-03-11
Updated: 2016-03-18
Packaged: 2018-05-26 02:58:41
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 4
Words: 9,983
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6220870
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/chesterfieldred/pseuds/chesterfieldred
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>David thought of himself as useless. He was in for a surprise. As was the Commonwealth.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Intro

David awoke screaming. The nightmare was still livid, Nora, killed in front of his eyes, and Shaun, crying, taken by those monsters and he was unable to move-

Codsworth was there suddenly. Speaking to him, hydraulic hisses of his machinery, but he couldn't make out the words. It soothed him, though, brought him back to the surface. Ended the horrible memory, replaying every night since two weeks, since he had crawled out of that godforsaken vault into a destroyed world.

"Master David...?" 

The robots voice was small next to him in the dark, concerned and sad. The flame of his engine had the shadows dancing over the broken interior of his old home.  
He sat up, slowly, weight of his upper body almost completely reliant on his arms. 

"Yes, Codsworth. It's... it's okay."

"Can I... get you something to drink, Sir?"

He looked at the Mr. Handy and would never stop wondering how expressive the old robot could be without any facial features whatsoever. 

He nodded and, lifting his weight up on his fists, swung his body around to sit on the edge of the couch.

"Shall I get your prosthesis, too?"

"Yes," he mumbled and added a quiet thanks when the robot hovered away. It was early, he realized, not even a faint glow of dawn outside. He didn't sleep enough but there wasn't a damn thing to do about it. Sleep was eluding him and he didn't care, for the world outside was a nightmare, too, and he couldn't decide which one was worse.

Codsworth returned, a bottle of purified water and his heavy leg prosthesis in his grip. 

"I have taken the liberty to clean the old thing up and do some repairs on it, as far as my skills would allow. A shame that your new one got destroyed when you were in the Vault. It was so much more advanched."

David took the bottle from Codsworth with a silent nod, unscrewing the lid and drinking slowly. His throat burned. His eyes did, too. 

He lifted the large artifical limb and shoved his boxers aside, arching his hip to fit the prosthesis against gnarled scar tissue, the cold steel hip replacement protuding from his skin that would hold the limb to hip bone made out of metal. The locks clicked into place, steel and plastic edges rubbing against his body in a still unfamiliar way. 

It had been two years, before the bombs, two years after massive surgery, the never ending pain and hundreds of hours of therapy and counselling and all that bullshit. And it still felt unfamiliar. Like a dead weight on him. 

He lowered his head and felt hot tears slip over his cheeks. He choked on a sob, on the crushing feeling of helplessness and desperation.

How was a damn cripple like him going to save anyone?


	2. First steps

Codsworth wouldn't let him walk alone to Concord, fussing over him like he was a baby, despite his protests. 

He flew in front of him, pointing out rocks, cracks in the road, debris and junk, that could make him stumble and fall. As if he couldn't see for himself, placing his still needed crutch carefully, his artifical 'foot' even more so. 

His hip hurt. Every step was agony, searing up his spine. He would need a pause, and soon. The old prosthesis had never really fit, was too tight and the parts of it that could rust had of course deteriorated over the last 200 years. 

Two months before the bombs he had gotten a new one from the doctors, a marvel of technology, as they had phrased it. It had been almost completely destroyed in the cryo-chamber of Vault 111. He had barely made it to Sanctuary with it after his emergence from the Vault, before it had broken, leaving him with only the old one as replacement.

He had to walk slowly, step after step, and they needed almost an hour just to reach the Red Rocket Truck Stop.

David couldn't be angry at Codsworth's fussing, in the end. And somehow, the robots demeanour was even endearing. That was his programming, after all, the only reason Nora had persuaded him to get a Mr. Handy. A help with the house, the garden, with Shaun, while he had to slowly learn to walk and basically do everything again. And someone to look after him, when she would have gone to work again after the baby pause. She hadn't phrased it like that, of course. 

His throat seized up when he thought of her. 

She had been wonderful, she and Shaun the only reason he was still alive. 

After his stationing on the front lines of that goddamn war, the one, his last, mission that had failed spectacularly and his retirement as a liability to the army, she had been there, helping, caring, loving him still. Even if he wasn't half the man she had married anymore. 

Without her, without Shaun, he surely would have succumbed to his depression, and worse. 

A bark roused him from his memories, almost made him loose his balance in shock. Wild dog, he tought, like the dead beast at the bridge to Sanctuary and David lifted his gun with the hand not currently clutching the crutch.

Codsworth was an agitated mess, hovering up and down in front of him.

"Fear not, Sir, I will extinguish anything that threatens to harm you!" The robot exclaimed dramatically and his metal appendages rotated dangerously. 

Another bark, but David could now hear that it wasn't aggressive. 

He looked around the robot carefully.

A large german shepherd trotted their way, having emerged from the rusted remains of the old Truck Stop, tail wagging, muzzle opened with his long tongue hanging out loopsidedly. He walked around Codsworth, uninterested in the mechanical flexing of muscle the robot presented and started to sniff at David's good leg. Then the dog yipped in a friendly way and sat down on his haunches, looking up at him expectantly. 

"Ah... I don't think it wants to harm you, Sir."

David shock his head, amused at the robots almost crestfallen tone. He leaned down slowly with his crutch to pet the dogs head. 

"Hey, boy. Are you all alone here?"

The dog yipped again and David smiled, for the first time since leaving the Vault,"Want to come with us, boy?"

That had the dog leaping to his paws, jumping and barking excitedly. 

Codsworth coed,"Aww, nothing like making a new friend, right, Sir?"

David looked at the robot, still smiling, and nodded.

Together, they continued on their slow way towards Concord. 

****

David heard the sound of gunfire immediately upon entering the town.

His horror at the destruction surrounding him was replaced with worry and, despite the possibly lurking dangers, something akin to hope. 

Gunfire meant other people. Other survivours. He wasn't the only one left, alone with a robot and a dog on a dead marble in space, contaminated with radiation.

He hobbled along, pain from his hip subsiding somewhat from the adrenaline rush in his veins. 

"Master David, careful!" Codsworth called out and followed him quickly down the broken street and the dog jumped along in front of him. 

He could hear screams now, angry yells, the sounds of guns and some strange sort of zapping noise growing louder the further into town he got. Whatever was going on, it wasn't good. 

He reached the main street and instinct made himself crouch behind cover as fast as he could, a burnt out corvega. The dog sat down next to him and growled quietly, but otherwise stayed put. David exhaled slowly to calm his nerves before looking over the hood carefully. He could make out people down the street, covering behind sandbag dammings and other broken cars, firing up at the balcony of the old Museum of Freedom. There seemed to be other people holed up in there.

"Puh, raiders... and it had been such a lovely day so far."  
Codsworth appeared next to him and David startled at his sudden appearance. 

"What are raiders?" He asked the robot and all three eyes looked at him. 

"The scourge of the Commonwealth, Sir. Scum of the lowest kind. I wouldn't recommend asking those for help in our situation."

David looked back down the street, at the Museum,"But there are people in there. They are firing at other people."  
"Not a day in the Commonwealth without fighting, sadly. Oh, what has humanity come too...," Codsworth intoned with a heavy mechanical sigh and David shock his head, brows furrowed,"We have to help them."

"Master David, no, I have to object strongly, there are too many of them and with your condition-"

"I know about my condition, Codsworth," David interjected softly,"And I know you're worried. But I am... I was a soldier of the U.S. Army. I will not flee when there are people who need help."

Codsworth managed to look sad and worried at the same time. David drew his gun, opening the magazine to count his ammunition. Then he patted the robots round head reassuringly. 

"I may need your support, though."

"Yes, Sir!" Codsworth saluted him with one appendage, voice cheerful again,"Anytime, Sir!"

****

In the end it was a mixture of surprise, his shooting skills and Codsworths and the dogs help that made him take down the highly aggressive raiders on the street without getting blown to kingdom come. And luck. Lots and lots of luck and bad aim on the enemies side. 

He slumped next to a dead body, hip and back and his one good leg burning with pain from the strain of the last eventful minutes, breathing heavily. He looked down at the unmoving form of the dirty, brutish looking man, who had shouted expletives and murderous threats only seconds ago. A round, slowly bleeding hole in his forehead, calibre '44, had put a quick end to this.

David had never wanted to kill again, after the army. It wasn't that he couldn't do it. It was that he had been too good at it. That had truly scared him and had been the cause for more sleepless nights before the world had ended than he could count.

He closed his eyes, catching his breath.

"Hey, up here! On the balcony!"

He startled and looked up. There was a man up there, clad in an old fashioned coat and was that... a cowboy hat?  
"I've got a group of settlers inside. The raiders are almost through the door! Grab that Laser Musket and help us! Please!"

Laser...? Whatever. The man had vanished inside again and it seemed David wasn't done fighting just yet. In front of him lay a strange looking weapon, looking like something straight out of one of those cheap sci-fi-novels Nora had so loved to read. He stretched and grabbed it and it was heavy in his hands, way heavier than his gun. He would need both hands to operate it, he realized, and then he'd have no way to steady himself if he should loose his balance. The Musket was no option, then. 

Codsworth made his way over to him,"Sir! Are you quite alright?"

He nodded and waved at the Mr. Handy," Help me up, will you?"

"Of course, Sir!"

Codsworth hovered next to him, dimming his engine and sinking down until David could grab his appendages and, with a heavy grunt and the extra strength from Codsworth, pull himself up. He hopped on his good leg to get his balance back when Codsworth swayed under his weight. 

The dog bounced over then, barking at him. There was blood around his muzzle, blood from the raiders, and David was thankful the dog had decided that they should be friends.

"Good boy," David muttered towards the dog and patted one of Codsworth's eyes,"You too. Good job."

"Why, thank you, Master David, Sir!" If a robot could beam, it would look like his Mr. Handy now.

He hopped a few steps with Codsworth's help. Trying to set down his prosthesis had pain shooting through his hip and up his back and he hissed through his teeth. 

Something must have been knocked askew in the old thing during the fight. It wasn't fitting anymore now, digging painfully into the scar tissue of his hip.

"We should find your crutch, Sir,"Codsworth said concerned, but David shock his head,"No time. Lost it somewhere. We must get inside and help those people before they are killed."

"But-"

"Come on," he clenched his jaw, cocked his gun on top of the robots round head and the trio continued forward, into the building. 

As soon as they were through the door, the shooting started. 

Codsworth hurried behind a column, shielding him with his metal body and he had to hop as fast as he could, before heavily sliding down the robot behind save cover. 

"Up on the first floor!" He shouted at Codsworth over the sound of gunfire, ricocheting bullets and yelled curses and the robot flew away with a cheery,"Yes, Sir!"

David calmed his breath and held the gun to his forehead to concentrate in the mayhem around him. He had seen three upon entering the building. He turned around the column, could see two from his position now, aimed and fired, two shots in rapid succession. Two bodies hit the floor, headshot.

"You fucking-," he heard from above, then an aggressive and loud growl from the dog and a shrill squeal from Codsworth's sawblade and it seemed over. 

He grimaced when he pulled himself up, fumbling along the wall that wasn't too far away from the column to reach and hopping along on his good leg that was tired by now, muscles aflame from exertion. 

Codsworth returned to him from the upper floor and he all but fell onto the robot. 

"I believe there are more up there, Sir."

"We'll see," he grunted and changed his gun into the hand on top of Codsworth's head, the other grabbing onto the stairs railing, and he counted quickly. Fourteen stairs. He could manage. 

****

David was exhausted when they arrived on the first floor. The walk to Concord, the fight, he was ready to collapse by now, his whole body screaming in pain. But he couldn't, not right now. Not when there were still people needing him.

He smiled to himself, despite the circumstances, when he heard Nora's voice in his head, calling him a stubborn mule affectionately. She had always known him best, after all. 

He heard voices and he and the robot hurried along, the dog in front of them, growling. He took his gun in the right hand again, aiming ahead. 

Not a second to late. 

Another of those raiders rounded the corner, a rusted pipe raised above his head. David shot and the brute fell with a dying gurgle. 

Through one room, another, the next, filled with mannequins dressed up in historic clothes. Two more raiders this time with a shotgun. David shoved Codsworth out of the way when he saw the man take aim at them and he lost his balance and fell against the wall from the force, right in time though to not get hit with a load of bullets.

"Hoho!" Codsworth exclaimed and he and the dog were upon the shooter in seconds, while the other came down on David with bare hands.

"Fucking bastard!" The man roared at him and punched him in the jaw and against his temple and David reacted on pure instinct. A shot rang through the air and the man dropped in front of him, clutching his stomach, screaming, blood gushing forth. David aimed and shot him in the head and the screaming stopped. 

He looked down at the corpse and felt numb. His head was ringing from the blows. Codsworth hovered over to him and asked him if he was alright. He simply nodded and he grabbed onto the robot, continuing forward. 

Two more of them at the last door. 

David finished them with two quick shots before they had fully managed to turn around and then they were inside.

****

He hadn't known what to expect. 

A group of frightened people, a cowboy and a greaser weren't on the list, though.

The cowboy stepped forward, smiling a reliefed smile,"Man, I don't know who you are, but your timing's impeccable. Preston Garvey, Commonwealth Minuteman."

"Wow, shit!" 

David looked at the greaser, who was staring at his leg incredulously. He glanced down. The prosthesis couldn't be seen under his blue vault suit and the heavy boots he wore, but the artifical limp had busted in several places. It looked like his leg was badly mangled. 

"It's okay," he waved at the man tiredly and turned to the cowboy - Preston Garvey - again,"I'm David and these are Codsworth and ... dog. Did you just say Minuteman? I'm travelling backward in time now?"

"You sure, man?" Garvey was looking at his leg now, too, frowning in concern,"That looks as if it would hurt."

David took a deep breath,"It's okay, believe me."

"Well... if you say so..."

Garvey and the greaser shared a confused look, but then the cowboy continued. 

"Yeah, I said Minuteman. 'Protect the people at a minutes notice.' That was the idea. So I joined up, wanted to make a difference. And I did, but... things fell apart. Now it looks like I'm the last Minuteman left standing."

David looked at the others in the room. A man, sitting on the floor and obviously crying, an agitated woman walking up and down and staring at him suspiciously and an old woman on a couch with a colorful turban around her head and deep bangs under her eyes. 

"Who are these people?"

"Just folks lookin' for a new home. A fresh start. I've been with 'em since Quincy. Lexington looked good for a while, but the ghouls drove us outta there." 

David's thoughts tripped on the word 'ghouls'. That... didn't sound like anything he would want to meet. 

Garvey didn't explain, though, and continued, voice striken,"A month ago, there were twenty of us. Yesterday, there were eight. Now, we're five. It's just me, the Longs - Marcy and Jun -, that's old Mama Murphy on the couch. And this here's Sturges."

Codsworth waved an appendage,"Well, good day to you all, ladys and gentleman. So nice to meet civilized people out here."

"Sounds like you had it rough..." David murmured and Garvey looked defeated for a moment,"That about nails it... Anyway, we figured Concord would be a safe place to settle. Those raiders proved us wrong. But, well, we do have one idea."

It occured to David then, that these people had lived a life that he couldn't possibly wrap his mind around, not yet, and he doubted he ever would. They had lived in this world, this decaying, destroyed world for their entire life. He had awoken barely a month ago. He was over two hundred years old. 

It had been overwhelming, too unbelievable, when Codsworth had told him that, on his first day back at Sanctuary and he had simply shoved it away and refused to think about that particular mess. The death of Nora and the kidnapping of Shaun had been enough. It had been easy, with just Codsworth around, who was the same robot he had been before the bombs. Now... it was something entirely different, hearing this stranger talk about weird things he didn't understand.

The world had changed. He was a relic. A broken down antique that had been supposed to die in that damn icy tomb. 

And he would never get his old life back.

He felt tears burn in his eyes and blinked them away rapidly. He couldn't break down now.

"Well...", he said, forcing himself to sound curious, his voice rough,"Let's hear it."

If Garvey noticed his teethering on the edge of a mental breakdown, he didn't comment on it. He nodded at the greaser.

"Sturges, tell him." 

"There's a crashed vertibird up on the roof. Old school. Pre-war. You might've seen it."

No. He hadn't. He had been too busy diving ungracefully behind cover and shooting and evading bullets, a feast not so easy to accomplish when unable to run and dodge, and generally _not dying_.

Sturges grinned at him. Must have seen at least some of his thoughts on his face.

"Well, looks like one of it's passengers left behind a seriously sweet goody. We're talking a full suit of cherry T-45 Power Armor. Military issue."

They continued to explain the plan to get out of Concord alive and kill those raiders outside and David knew he really should listen, but his mind had stuttered to an utter and complete halt. 

He was staring at Sturges and couldn't hear his words.

A Power Armor. A military Power Armor.


	3. Back home

David couldn't tell if he was trembling with anticipation or with apprehention, his thoughts and emotions a huge jumbled mess. He felt nervous and elated at the same time, the pain firing up his hip shoved into the background of his mind.

It had to work. It simply had to. 

He had sent Codsworth to retrieve the fusion core from the basement. The robot, happy to be of help, went to follow his orders immediately, after making clear that he would have no problem with hacking the terminal to get through.

The Mr. Handy returned not five minutes later, fusion core in his grip and he leaned on him again to get to the other side of the room, passing the settlers and he didn't even really notice that the old woman was looking at his artifical leg knowingly, didn't notice Marcy making a snide comment about a damn hobbling vault-dweller that would get them all killed.

He also didn't notice Garvey following him through the door until the man stopped him in the corridor, a gentle hand on his arm.

"Hey... I can do this," Garvey said hushed, concern edged into his face,"You already did so much for us. There's no need for you to continue to fight if you're injured."

Unconciously, David's grip on the fusion core tightened.

Then he realized that Garvey was sincere. That he was simply worried. The man didn't know.

He took a deep breath to quell the tremble and shook his head. 

"As I said, it's okay," he willed the other to understand,"Believe me. I... I have to do this."

Garvey seemed to search his eyes for a moment. Then he sighed and let go of his arm.

"Alright. Be careful out there."

David nodded and he and Codsworth continued on. 

It wasn't far. When they made it through the door, warm wind carressed his face. He looked up and there she stood, shielded from the midday sun by the broken wings of the chrashed vertibird.

A full suit, weathered and ancient, looking like a old, powerful creature from another time, waiting for him and him alone.

His chest was too tight. He shuddered and had to stiffle a painfull sob with his hand. 

It was like a dream, hobbling up to the metal hulk and his hands were shaking when he injected the core. Codsworth said something, but he couldn't answer, his throat closing in. The suit beeped and opened when he turned the handle. 

With both hands and his good leg he heaved himself inside, adjusting the prosthesis so it wouldn't catch on the armor closing, wouldn't hurt him too much when he moved. Another series of beeps and then the protective layers of reinforced industrial steel closed around him. The HUD flashed to life in front of his burning eyes in a bright orange.

When he took his first step he felt a stray tear roll down his cheek.

Codsworth looked up at him, all three eyes wide open, and his robotic voice was filled with awe,"Master David! I have to say..."

"Yes..." he answered and his voice was shaking on shuddered breaths, rough with emotion. He lifted his huge, enclosed hand and rested it carefully on the head of his faithful little robot. 

Then he spotted the mini-gun on the old vertibird.

The raiders stood no chance. 

****

It was over in minutes.

Minutes that felt so surreal to him that some small part of him was afraid that this was all a dream, that he was actually lying on his couch in Sanctuary still.

The barrel of the mini-gun was glowing red when the last of the raiders fell and David turned towards where he had seen Codsworth a second ago when suddenly a roar split through the air, almighty and terrifying. David whipped around again with wide eyes. 

And what he saw was a nightmare incarnated. 

A huge beast climbed out of the sewer on the far side of the street, a black, scaly, horned monster with long claws and razorsharp teeth. It's massive head turned towards his direction. Small eyes narrowed. And then it broke out into a full-paced run towards him, it's claws throwing out sparks on the ground. 

It roared at him and David lifted the gun. The barrel flashed before his eyes, the blaring of the gun deafening. A wide open muzzle before him, teeth as long as his whole hands. The beast cried out in pain when a spray of bullets slashed through it's face. 

He kept firing, walking backwards until his back hit the wall of a building and he had nowhere to go anymore.

The beast was attacking still, trying to evade the bullets, huge clawed paws trying to rip him to shreds. 

David screamed when it managed to land a blow, the force staggering, making him stumble, but he kept his finger on the trigger. 

And then it was enough. 

The thing was but a bleeding mess, scaly skin torn open from hundreds of bullet wounds. It slowed down, swayed on it's claws and David fired a last round right into it's ugly snout. 

It wheezed, a deep, deep rumble from it's chest, and then it fell, the ground shaking under David. 

He stared in deep shock, mini-gun still aimed for the head, but it didn't move anymore. 

"Master David!" Codsworth hovered over to him, over unmoving corpses of raiders, voice cheery and victorious,"What a fight, Sir!"

He looked at the robot numbly. 

"What... what is this?" His voice was hoarse from screaming and he nudged the barrel of the mini-gun in the dead beasts' general direction.

"That? Oh, I am sure this is a Deathclaw. A dead Deathclaw, if you don't mind my little play on words."

"Deathclaw... are there more ... more of those around here?"

Codsworth waved his appendages cheerfully,"Well, I can recall a few times over the last twohundred years I saw one or two of these nasty creatures wandering around Sanctuary. But they are not common in this part of the country, as far as I can tell."

David looked back at the huge mass of scales, claws and teeth and hoped he would never ever see any of those monsters alive again.

They turned and went back to the Museum.

****

It was dim in the Museum, compared to the bright midday sun on the outside, and he could smell musk and gunpowder through the filters of the T-45 helmet.

David blinked and then saw the people he had met in the main hall around a small fire burning in a metal bucket. Garvey stood with his Musket at the ready, and Sturges leaned against the wall.

"I'm fine, Preston. Quit fussin'," the old woman said at this very moment before they all looked up when he entered, Codsworth in tow. 

Garvey smiled at him, "That was... a pretty amazing display. I'm just glad that you're on our side."

Amazing display... David was of different opinion, but he didn't give voice to it. He walked up the empore to them, the wodden floor creaking under his weight. He hefted the mini-gun to the side.

"You guys... going to be okay now?"

"Yeah. For a while now, anyway. We can at least move someplace safer,"Garvey said and he lowered his own gun, too, placing the stock on the ground,"Listen. When we first met, you asked about the Minuteman. One thing you should know about us, we help our friends. So here, for everything you've done. Thank you."

He had fished a small bag out of his coat and held it out to him. David looked at it for a moment almost dumbfounded.

"You... what, you want to pay me? For helping you?"

"Of course. You risked your life for us. It's only fair you get something out of it."

David shock his head,"No. I won't take your money." 

"But-" 

"Keep it," David said softly,"I'll... I'll just take the armor, if you don't mind."

Garvey's gaze was almost incredulous. But then he shrugged,"Well... not often you come across some... selfless knight in shining armor these days. And about said armor, you aquired it and cleared our path. I'll say it's yours already."

He looked up at him and his eyes were soft, a small smile playing on his lips. Garvey was a good man, David was sure about that now. 

"What happens now?" he asked and Garvey squared his shoulders, "For the longest time, Mama Murphy's had a vision of a place called "Sanctuary". Some old neighborhood... but one we can make new again. Why don't you come with us? I could really use your help."

David looked at them all, these strangers he had met not two hours ago. They wanted to go to his old home and start a new life there. And he... he was alone. In a world that wanted to eat him alive apparently. He needed answers. Directions. Maybe they could help him.

He nodded,"I'd like that, Garvey. For now."

Next to him, Codsworth made a pleased sound at the prospect of going home again. 

"You will need to stay strong," the old woman - Mama Murphy - suddenly spoke up,"Like you been. Cause there's more to your destiny. I've seen it. And I know your pain."

He stared at her. Her eyes were milky, her gaze gentle. 

"What... what did you say?" David whispered and she smiled, a soft smile,"You're a man out of time. Out of hope. But all's not lost. I can feel... your son's energy. He's alive."

David heard the shot in his head. The shot that had killed Nora. And he heard his baby-boy cry, in the arms of those strangers. His throat closed in, voice raw, "Where is my son? Where is Shaun?"

"Oh, I wish I knew, kid," Mama Murphy's gaze turned sad,"I really do. But it's not like I can see your son, I can just... feel his life force, his energy. He's out there. And even I don't need the Sight to tell you where you should start looking. The great, green jewel of the Commonwealth. Diamond City. The biggest settlement around."

David felt a knot of helpless agitation stir in him. If this old woman spoke the truth he had to get going. Even if he had no idea where this settlement even was. 

"What's in Diamond City? Is Shaun there?" 

"Look, kid, I'm tired now. Maybe you bring me some chems later, the Sight will paint a clearer picture."

Chems... drugs? He frowned. So, that's what that was all about? She was a junkie? Memories resurfaced, from the war. He could still remember the exotic names for all the different substances that had been dealt with in the army, sometimes even given freely from the Captains, with the okay from the big shots. Stuff like psycho and buffout, to increase their strength and determination, turn them into mindless killing machines. He could also still remember the names of comrades that had ended as miserable, burnt-out husks because of this shit. 

His view of the old woman started to shift slightly, but then again, she had known about his son. Where the hell would she have gotten this from? Was this... Sight for real? He just didn't know.

"No, Mama Murphy, we talked about this. That junk... it's gonna kill you." Preston said then and she shock her head gently,"Oh, shush, Preston. We're all gonna die eventually. We're gonna need the Sight. And our new friend here, he's gonna need it, too. Now let's get goin'. Sanctuary awaits."

****

David blinked into the sun over the street leading them out of Concord back towards Sanctuary.

The dog, Dogmeat, as he had learned by now, jumped ahead of him, barking happily. Codsworth flew next to him, dwarfed by the hulk of his armor. In front of him walked Sturges, the Longs and Mama Murphy, chatting among themselves, and Garvey to lead of their little ragtag group.

Now that the thrill of the fight with the raiders and the... Deathclaw had evaporated, now that he could think straight again, he finally realized what was happening. What he was doing. Every step he took out of the dream into a new world.

A world where he could walk again.

Not counting the years in cryo-sleep, for the first time since over two years. 

He couldn't wipe the smile of his face. It felt like being reborn, walking on his own two feet, without crutches or someone to hold onto, without feeling his weight press down on the prosthesis, without frustration and pain and exhaustion... that was something he had thought he would never in his life experience again. 

"I wish you could see that, Nora...," he whispered and felt a stab of grief for her. She would have cried with joy for him. 

The armor felt good. It wasn't too heavy or too stiff from being unused for so long, but he would need to make a few repairs back at home... and program the left leg to carry weight more smoothly.

Every Power Armor had emerceny routines, that executed automatically if the carrier was injured. Those routines normaly only worked for a short amount of time, though, because the suit needed more energy with them and were basically just the ensurance for a save getaway. 

He would have to program it to execute permanently. 

There had to be a way to do this. 

David had worn a PA T-45 before, in the war. He had hated it, then, felt suffocated under layers and layers of steel. Had hated the way crusted blood looked like trough the visor.

Now he was glad about it, only so he knew how to operate a Power Armor, how to repair and program it. He would get this old thing running again in perfect condition. And then he would go and find his son. 

Sanctuary came in sight.

They had made the way in roughly fifteen minutes, much, much faster than David had been on his way to Concord prior. He stopped and let his gaze wander. 

The destroyed buildings of his old home, the broken road and the lake glistening in the sun had never looked so welcoming since he woke up a month ago. So much had changed in the last few hours. The constant feeling of helplessness, of fear and desperation that had tried to crush him over the last month had vanished, giving way to hope, for the first time since leaving the Vault.

"Master David?" Codsworth hovered next to him and he nodded at the robot,"Hey Codsworth. Why don't you show them around? I'll be there in a minute."

"With pleasure, Sir!" The Mr. Handy exclaimed with a little salute and he flew ahead after the group of settlers. They where already on the bridge, faster now that their destination was in sight, talking exitedly. 

All except for Garvey. 

The Minuteman stood next to him. 

"I'm glad you decided to come with us," he said, enjoying the view over Sanctuary,"I should have listened to Mama Murphy all along. Pretty nice place she's found for us. I think we could settle down here, make it a place to call home. What do you think?"

David looked down at the man. There was no reason not to trust him. Besides, he would need friends if he wanted to survive in this world. And Garvey and the others had been nothing but kind so far. 

"Yeah. I used to like living here. Before the war..."

"What do you mean?" Preston lifted his eyebrow when looking up at him quizzically," Before what war? Are you saying...?"

David suddenly realized that what he was about to say probably sounded like he was crazy. He fidgeted, regretting bringing it up. But now he couldn't take it back. He just hoped that Garvey would believe him. 

"I... lived here. Over twohundred years ago. I was... frozen or something for most of it. Just woke up a little while ago."

He half expected Garvey to call him a liar but the man's mouth opened in awe. 

"Damn. Like one of those old prewar ghouls?"

Ghouls... again this strange word. He really should remember to ask what those were. And prewar? There were ... things here from before, like him? 

"You say you were frozen... anybody else make it out with you?" Garvey asked, distracting him from brooding and David breathed hard. He had already said so much... he decided to go with the whole truth. 

"Just my son. Somebody took him while I was still trapped... I will go and find him."

Garvey's awed look changed into worry,"Damn. I hope you do. Let me know if there's any way I can help."

David nodded,"Thank you, Garvey. I will."

Garvey smiled at him and adjusted the strap of his Laser Musket, "Please. Call me Preston. I'm feeling old otherwise... anyway... I'm glad that you're here, David."

When they crossed the bridge to Sanctuary, David realized he was, too.

****

David had excused himself and went into his old home after they'd arrived. Codsworth did a great job in showing the newcomers around and he needed to get out of the Power Armor and take a look at that damn busted prosthesis of his. Not something he wanted to do in front of everyone.

He grabbed the small tool kit from the kitchen that his Mr. Handy had used to repair the old thing before and laid it down on the small coffee table. Then he stepped next to the couch and took a deep breath. 

He executed the commands to open the Armor on the HUD. With a series of beeps and a hiss, the PA opened and he grabbed onto the handles in the shoulder inlay to keep from simply falling out when the support in his back vanished. 

With a groan he pushed and pulled himself free and set his good leg down on the ground, needing a second to catch his balance. With one hand he grasped the couch behind him, the other holding the prosthesis and he let himself sink down into the old, torn cushions. 

For a moment he simply sat there, looking up at the ceiling, and realized he was totally and completely exhausted. Then he sighed and whiped his face. He could sleep when he had repaired the artifical limb, when the part that now bit into his hip again was adjusted and the broken plastic parts that had cut through his Vault-suit had been removed.

Or when he simply burned the damn thing to save him the trouble. 

David snorted to himself and started to undo the boot and cut open the Vault-suit he had pulled over the prosthesis to set to work.

He didn't realize how much time had passed, so when he heard a hesitant knock on the doorway and looked up to see it already getting dark outside, he was puzzled for a moment. 

"Hey, David? I, err, don't want to disturb you, but Mama Murphy made somethin' to eat for us and we wondered if you..."

The voice behind him trailed off into shocked silence. 

David sighed. Had been a matter of time anyway. He looked up.

Preston stood frozen in the doorway, eyes huge and staring at him.

"Hey..." he waved awkwardly with a screwdriver in his hand and forced himself to smile. 

"What... how..." Preston seemed at a loss for words. He gestured helplessly, eyes glued to the disconnected prosthesis lying on his knee.

David couldn't help himself, he chuckled softly,"Preston. It's okay."

"But... you..."

"I only have one leg. Yes."

Preston looked at him, disbelief written all over his face. His voice was but a whisper,"And... you risked your life for us. You threw yourself into a fight against a... against a Deathclaw!"

"Yeah. I noticed." David shuddered, thinking about the huge monster.

"David... you could have said something. I wouldn't have let-"

"You wouldn't have let me?" David looked down at the artifical limb, voice soft, and continued to tighten the last bolts and screws,"Preston, please... I... I am new to this, all of this. But if I learned something today, it's that most things in this world won't care about what I have or don't have. They'd want to kill me anyway... and I couldn't just stand by and watch you get killed."

Preston was silent for a moment. Then he stepped nearer carefully.

"How'd it happen?", the man asked gently and then seemed to startle at his own words,"I mean, err, damn... if you want to tell me, that is."

David squinted up into wide eyes and smiled softly at Preston who stood with his hands raised, obviously scared he had offended him.

"In the war. I was a soldier."

"In the army?" 

David nodded and put the screwdriver into the toolbox again. He lifted the limb and moved the joints to look for residual catches. His voice was detached and he felt numb, like always when he told the story. The part he could talk about, clinical and cold. The part that didn't hurt, that wouldn't wake up the ghosts.

"Took a misstep. A landmine detonated under me. Ripped my leg clean off, shattered my hipbone and part of my spine. Broke about all of my rips. Busted my ear-drums. I couldn't hear anything for almost a year."

"Damn... I... I'm sorry, David."

"You don't have to be," he looked up at the other man, smiling a crooked smile,"But thanks, Preston."

A mechanical hiss sounded from the doorway and Codsworth entered the house, waving cheerily,"Oh, Master David, it is so nice to have people around again! I never had so much fun in twohundred years!"

"Hey, Codsworth," David greeted the robot softly,"Glad to hear it. Could you be so good and fetch the spare crutch for me? It's in the bedroom I think."

"Right away, Sir!"

David avoided Preston's gaze when he leaned back to attach the prosthesis to his hip again. He knew how repulsive it looked, deeply scarred flesh and the metal and plastic parts protuding from his hip. He didn't want to see the look of disgust on Preston's face. 

When the old artifical limb had clicked into place and he had fastened the belts, he looked up with apprehention. 

Instead of disgust he saw pity, though. And sadness.

Preston opened his mouth to say something but Codsworth returned and he stopped himself. 

"Here, Sir!" The robot handed him the crutch and hovered next to the couch, dimming his engine and sinking down to let him reach and grab onto his head, a move they had practiced so many times before. 

David reached up and, supporting his bad side with the crutch, the other with Codsworth, pulled himself up.

Preston was there suddenly, almost falling over himself, and grabbed his ellbow to help him find his balance.

When he finally stood, David looked at the other man, grinning teasingly,"Thanks. Don't do this too often, though. I'm lazy and I could get used to it."

Preston snorted a laugh,"I'll keep that in mind, man."

"So... you said something about food? I'm starving."

David started to hobble towards the door, glad that he could at least set his artifical foot down again after the much needed repairs. It was nothing like walking in the Power Armor, though, but he had only one fusion core and needed to save the energy.

Preston chuckled, "Yeah. Mama Murphy makes the best stew in the world."

"I can't wait!"

The others sat around a newly built fire station across the street and were talking among themselves only to stop when they exited the house. David could feel their stares almost burning through him when he and Preston made their way over. 

He sighed and squared his shoulders determinedly. 

Wouldn't be harder than fighting the Deathclaw. 

"Oh, Preston..." he half turned to the other man while hobbling along,"I almost forgot. What are ghouls?"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Preston is a ray of sunshine and no one can convince me otherwise :D


	4. Devils and Dust

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> _I got my finger on the trigger,_   
>  _But I don't know who to trust._   
>  _When I look into your eyes,_   
>  _There's just devils and dust._   
>  _We're a long, long way from home, Bobbie._   
>  _Home's a long, long way from us._   
>  _I feel a dirty wind blowing,_   
>  _Devils and dust._
> 
>  
> 
> \- Bruce Springsteen

"You got everything? Water, ammo, rad-x, stimpacks?"  
David nodded and rolled his eyes good-naturedly,"And Snickers. Yeah, checked three times this morning, Preston. I'm good."

"What's Snickers?" Sturges asked from somewhere behind him, tightening the last bolt to the new support on the left leg of the PA. 

"A chocolate bar. Nevermind."

"So! Tada!" Sturges exclaimed enthusiatically and stepped away from him, grinning and looking proud of himself. 

David lifted his arm to look down. The newly added light weight construction to the PA's outer thigh was gleaming in silver, not too big to hinder his movements or annoy him while walking or fighting. David slipped his new cruth into it and it fit perfectly, clicking into place so it wouldn't fall out.

Sturges really had been great. Once the mechanic had learned about his story and his disability, he had been nothing but dedicated, helping him with nearly everything. Together, over the last two weeks, they had build a Power Armor Station and got the old diagnostic chard out of his garage to work again, so they could use it to repair and program the PA. He had also taken a look at his old prosthesis, tweaked it around and even without knowledge of orthopedics he had managed to improve the old thing so it wouldn't be as heavy and impractical as before. 

Then Sturges had build new crutches for him, foldable ones, so they wouldn't be a liability. And now the support for them on the PA, so he would be able to exit the Armor and have them at the ready in an instant.

He moved the leg around a bit. Everything was holding fast.

"Looks good," he praised warmly and Sturges crossed his arms over his chest, tipping his chin up,"Good? I'd say it's fantastic. Streamline all the way."

"Okay, okay, you're a genius," David smiled at Sturges gratefully. He would have been lost without the mans' help. 

"Hell, yes, I am."

Preston chuckled and stepped up to him,"That's it, then. You ready?"

David took a deep breath and looked over towards the bridge of Sanctuary. It was early morning. The sun was rising on the horizon, the sky aflame in fine red and orange, painting the hills, the dead trees and the Old-North-Bridge in spectacular lights. 

"I am." He said. Then he gazed at the two men next to him again,"You guys going to be okay?"

Preston waved his hand,"Yeah, we will be. Don't worry. When you come back, you won't recognize the place."

"I'm looking forward to it, Preston. Just make sure the pool's ready by then." David grinned and Sturges snorted on a laugh while Preston shock his head, chuckling,"No promises."

"Aww, dammit."

Codsworth hovered next to him, appendages rotating agitated,"Oh, Master David, I am still not happy with your decision. Are you really sure?"

He smiled at his robot,"Yes, Codsworth, I am. Stay here. Preston and Sturges are going to need your help more then I do." 

"But what if you... Or if you... and then..." Codsworth sounded like he was about to cry, unable to voice his programmed fears for his charge.

"I'm going to be fine," David reassured the nervous robot and patted his head lightly,"Dogmeat will look after me. Won't you, boy?"

He got two loud barks as an answer. The large german shepherd was a ball of tightly coiled energy since he had woken up this morning. He knew instinctively that something big was going to happen. And he was exited for it, running around them in circles the whole time.

"Alright, Master David,"Codsworth sighed,"I don't like it, but if it is your wish... Just... stay safe."

David gave a two-fingered salute to the them all,"I will. And you do the same."

****

He took the road to Concord and then wandered along the highway towards Lexington. 

Preston had provided him with the location of Diamond City, as well as some other important new landmarks that had came into being post-war. He had programmed them all into the Pip-boy that he had taken from Vault 111 and then hooked up to the Power Armour. The thing hadn't been of use to him before, apart from getting him out of the Vault. Now it was irreplaceable.

Apparently this mysterious Diamond City was right in the middle of what had once been downtown Boston. 

David was nervous of what he would find once reaching the big city, what it would look like, how vast the devastation would be. 

The world truly had changed.

The landfill looked torn, decayed and destroyed. He stopped atop a hill overlooking the broken highway, the rotten cars and trees, the rolling hills and the sky an endless blue above him. There was no green anymore, only different shades of brown and grey, rust and dirt and ashes.

He felt grief, heavy and deep, settling in his chest. Was that what he had fought for? His comrades? Was this what he lost everything for? 

The madness of war. A dead world. The apocalypse, brought forth by humanity itself.

_Here the stone images_  
_Are raised, here they receive_  
_The supplication of a dead man's hand_  
_Under the twinkle of a fading star._

David shuddered, the words from an old poem he had once read entering his mind like whispers from the past, from the dead. Millions of them, burnt in nuclear fire. And the survivors lived in ruins and shattered dreams.

"This is the way the world ends. Not with a bang but a whimper," he quoted the last line and Dogmeat looked up at him expectantly. He scratched the dog behind one ear, smiling sadly.

"Let's go, boy."

****

He made it to Lexington within the next hour.

He had been here once or twice, before the war. Nora and himself had looked for a house to buy here, before they had decided on Sanctuary. The house in Lexington had been too small for them, with Nora already pregnant. He smiled sadly at the memories while walking through the ruins.

Suddenly Dogmeat stopped and the dogs' hackles rose. He growled menacingly.

"What's it, boy?" David muttered and scanned the area, rifle at the ready, a street that led to the town's plaza, a broken down truck blocking most of the view.

Then there was another growling sound, much, much different from Dogmeat. Different from anything he had ever heard before. Two, three, even more, hisses and wheezes, and David knew what that was before he saw them for the first time.

Ghouls. Preston had warned him about Lexington. It was apparently infested with them. 

The Minuteman had explained to him what ghouls were, that first night in Sanctuary. David had thought he was ready. When he saw them he realized he wasn't. 

Bloated and yet starved bodies, muscles, sinew and bones visible under leathery, lacerated skin, fingers like claws, wide opened maws with rotten teeth. They were fast, too fast for things that should have been dead for decades. 

David felt ice-cold horror take over. He lifted the rifle and fired, blindly, he didn't want them to reach him, even with the Armor protecting him, nauseating disgust burning in the pit of his stomach. He shot the heads off of two, thick, cagulated blood splattering on the ground. He shot off the legs of another and it fell, still trying to get to him, pulling itself forward with it's clawed hands.

For a split second time seemed to slow down when David aimed and looked into it's eyes. There was nothing human there anymore. He killed it with a headshot. Dogmeat was growling, snarling and ripped through their flesh with teeth and claws and he shot one after the other, till the street was filled with sluggishly bleeding bodies.

There were too much. They crawled from every hole, like maggots on a cadaver, clawing over each other and their dead predecessors. Their smell filtered through his helmet, the heavy, sweet smell of decay and rotten flesh. 

"Dogmeat!" He called out and when the dog barked and ran to him, David lit and threw a Molotov cocktail. When it had reached it's peak, he aimed and shot and the bottle exploded in a rain of fire above the monsters that had once been human.

They screamed. Hissed and snarled, an abhorrent, gruesome cacophony. The old rags most of them still wore immediately caught fire and their leathery, dry skin burnt like old pages from a book. And still more of them came, crawling onto the street, catching fire on the others until the whole street was a writhing mass of half dead bodies, engulfed in flames.

David walked backwards, shooting any on them that tried to follow until their screams died down, until he couldn't smell the tang of burnt flesh and decay anymore.

"All right, boy," he whispered and reloaded his rifle,"I have a suggestion: We skip Lexington for now. Okay?"

Dogmeat barked and wagged his tail happily.

****

The rest of the journey was not easier. He encountered some more raiders on a bridge that lead over the Charles River into downtown Boston. They attacked him from a ship that had crashed into the bridge, centuries ago by the looks of it. Well aimed shots and a handful of Molotovs put an end to the attack. One of the men had worn a Power Armor like him, though it was but the empty framework without the steel components. He picked the fusion core from the frame, collected everything he could use, ammunition and a good looking shotgun and left the broken ship to continue into the city. 

The beacon on his map was getting closer with every step. It couldn't be that far now and David wondered what a strange settlement Diamond City must be, right in the middle of Boston. A city in a city? 

When he crossed the bridge, Dogmeat at his heels, David kept to the walls of the abandoned and broken buildings. He had been trained in urban warfare in the army, among other things, and had been deployed in a few missions in the past. This was familiar territory to him, even though he had never in his life thought he'd ever be in this kind of situation again when forced to leave the army, sneaking around building complexes, gun at the ready.

When he heard the first gunshots echoing between the walls he started towards them. Not that he had that much of a choice. Diamond City was indicated to be exactly the way the sounds of a fight came from. 

He took cover behind the last corner of a building before the street fight that apparently seemed very vicious and merciless. He peered around the corner quickly. There were men clad in strange looking armor shooting at... huge green monsters, he had no other words for them. They were ... humanoid and David wondered for a moment if they where like the ghouls. But then he heard them talk, deep, growling voices and none of the ghouls had done that. 

Accompanying the green monsters where large green beasts that looked vaguely like dogs but where much bigger than any dog David had ever seen. 

One of those beasts had bitten a man in armor into his arm and had thrown him to the ground. The man was screaming, trying to fight off the viciously snarling creature, it's huge jaw snapping together inches from his head.

David leaped into action. 

"Dogmeat, sic' him, boy!" 

Dogmeat ran off and David whirled around the corner, shooting at the beasts' head and flank. It jowled in pain and Dogmeat leaped and jumped on it's back, burying his teeth into it's thick neck and pushing it off the man on the ground. The man scrambled to his feeth and another pulled him behind cover while David moved forward, bullets ricocheting of the Power Armor. 

He switched to his new shotgun quickly and blasted two shells into the other dog-beasts' muzzle when it ran at him, and, when that didn't stop it, lifted his leg and kicked the thing halfway across the street, it's head giving a sickening crunch. 

"You human die now!" One of the large humanoids barked at him and David switched to his calibre .50 rifle again. He would need bigger bullets for these. 

The rifle was deafening when he shot at the green monsters, the large calibre ripping through their flesh.

With the cover fire from the armored men behind him and his own, the fight was over quickly. 

The last of the green monsters fell from the buildings roof across the street, gurgling on the bullet wedged in it's throat and landed on the concrete with a dull thud.

He breathed hard through his nose, needing a moment to catch himself. Ghouls, huge green monsters and monster dogs... What would come next? Flying sharks in a tornado?

"Hell, I don't know who you are, but damn, what an entrance! Thank you, man!"

David turned. Behind him stood the man that had been bitten by the dog-beast, clutching a dirty rag over his arm to stop the bleeding. The others came up to him now, too, and Dogmeat jumped around him, barking and yipping.

"You're welcome,"David simply nodded at him, scratching his exited dog behind his ear to praise him for his good work.

"No, you are! We could use a man like you in the Diamond City Security." 

"Diamond City Security?" David echoed and the man nodded. He extended his hand,"Damn right. I'm Sergeant Steven Delaney."

"David O'Connor," he grabbed the man's hand carefully so not to crush it in the Power Armor glove.

"You en route to the Green Jewel?" Steven asked,"I could accompany you. Have to get this fixed up anyway." He lifted his wounded arm and David nodded, "Sure. Lead the way."

They walked through the group of men behind them and David could hear them murmuring among themselves. He decided to ignore their pointing at him. 

Steven lead him into an alleyway. There were signs everywhere now, crude rhombs painted on them with white paint, as well as arrows and the writing 'Diamond City this way'. They passed a gate with automatic turrets and other security men who nodded at Steven and then stepped up onto a small plaza. When David looked up, he finally recognized the green walls and the entrance. 

Fenway Park, the Baseball Stadium. Green Jewel. 

Suddenly, it clicked in his mind.

"Wait. Diamond City is... in Fenway Park?"

Steven laughed out,"What? You not from around here, pal? Everyone knows that."

David looked up the high walls with wonder.

No. He hadn't known.

When they neared the closed gates, he saw a woman in a red coat standing in front of it, gesturing wildly and apparently arguing with an intercom system.

"Oh great..." Steven sighed,"Piper..."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The poem David's reciting is 'The Hollow Men' from T.S. Eliot.


End file.
